Overtures
by skywolf666
Summary: Set directly after the campfire cutscene outside the Tower of Mana. In the process of learning more about Sheena, Lloyd has already made his decision about the ninja. Offering a hand to her, she has the choice of whether or not to take it. Friend fic.


Sheena sighed wearily, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees as she gazed into the crackling embers of the campfire. No one had spoken for almost a full hour, though everyone was wide awake. 'I guess it's to be expected... I just shattered their realities. What else should I have seen coming?'

"Sheena."

Looking up sharply at the call for her name, she saw Lloyd standing a ways off from the rest of the group, towards the path that led towards the ruins of Luin. He nodded once towards the path, indicating he wanted her to follow. She didn't move from where she sat, taking in the swordsman's appearance. He looked haggard, like he had just aged thirty years in the past three hours, she found herself sympathetic. He really was being forced to grow up too quickly. She had been expecting him to call for her, though she was a little surprised that he did it in plain view of the others. 'Whether or not he'll admit it, he's the leader of this little ragtag band... They all look up to him even though he's still a child... But I get how they can put so much faith in him, he's a true hero regardless of his age...'

"Are you going to go with him?" Corrine asked quietly, his ears perking up as he clambered off of Sheena's lap and to his feet. His fur stood on end as though he was preparing himself for a battle, baring his teeth. He began viciously, his small voice rising in anger, "If he tries anything–"

"He won't do anything to me Corrine." Sheena softly scolded her friend, reaching down to smooth his stiffened fur with a gentle hand. She made a point of setting aside her battle cards as she got to her feet to follow him. She felt a weight tug at her ankle, and looking down in surprise, she saw Corrine hanging onto her pantleg with his teeth. "Corrine? What are you doing?"

"You think I'm going to let you go alone with an armed man? When _you're_ unarmed?" Corrine asked incredulously, yanking on her pantleg again. He growled, "What if he tries to hurt you?"

"He won't." Sheena repeated firmly, not really understanding why she had so much faith in a boy she had only known for a few weeks. Something told her that she would be completely safe with him, even if she was unarmed, which she never truly was. Corrine released her, and she told him firmly, "Stay here, don't follow me. He wants to talk privately or else he would've raised the subject when we spoke earlier. He wants me to trust him, so I'm going alone, understand?"

"Fine then." Corrine grumbled shortly, flopping down on his belly, his narrowed eyes glaring balefully at Lloyd. He added under his breath, knowing she could hear him, "If he does anything outta line, I'll kill him..."

The ninja looked over to see Lloyd, seeing him waiting at the edge of the path for her, his expression oddly indifferent. Sighing under her breath for her stupidity, she followed him as he began to walk away from the camp. Pocketing her hands, she followed at her own pace, letting him lead her farther and farther away from the group. 'He must be trying to make sure that Colette can't hear what he wants to talk about... This can't be good...'

By the time they had stopped walking, the campfire was a mere glimmer on the horizon, and Lloyd turned on her with the same indifferent expression he had been wearing when he called for her. She didn't make any changes to her posture as his adust eyes met hers, even though she saw the hint of distrust in his expression.

"You know why I wanted to talk to you in private." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

"So I can skip the pleasantries, and you won't mind?"

"No."

Lloyd sighed to himself and then with slow and deliberate movements, he removed his blades, letting her know that this was to be a civil conversation and not something that could escalate into a battle. She looked tense enough as it was, and he had no desire to make her feel even more uncomfortable. Placing his swords gently on the ground, he looked up to see the assassin smile for a fleeting second, then it was gone and she was impassive. Crossing his arms, he tried to sort through the tides of changing emotions that had been building in his chest for the last hour. His friendship with Colette was tugging at his heartstrings, but his instincts were yanking him in a different direction, towards the ninja who stood a mere two feet away from him. 'My job is to protect Colette, no matter what, but Sheena... She's not really a threat to her, I just can't make her into one no matter what anyone else says...'

"_But she really did have gentle eyes."_

"_...Hmm, now that you mention it, she did, didn't she...?"_

He knew from the moment he saw her playing with the children in Luin that their assumptions had been right, she wasn't a true assassin. 'No assassin has those kind of eyes.' They had been warm and gentle as she laughed with the young ones, and her smile had been incredibly soft, too soft for someone supposedly capable of cold-blooded murder. So now, without really knowing, he knew she could be trusted, despite any other words she may have said. Even with that gut-reaction, his loyalty to Colette was telling him to be careful, it was the whole reason he had called her out with him. Trust couldn't be a one-way street, Kratos had drilled that lesson hard into his brain, and for the sake of his friends, he intended to follow through with the teachings. He cut straight to the chase now to one of the reasons why he had called her out, sensing that she wanted to get to the bottom of this as much as he did. "Can you really tell me with a straight face, looking into my eyes, that you will kill Colette?"

Sheena smiled at him, unable to stop herself. The words had been exactly what she had been expecting, she had seen from the moment she'd met them, that he would risk life and limb to protect the blond-haired Chosen, without a second thought. Even as her mouth automatically opened to give him a positive answer, she forced herself not to speak. 'Of course it was just a matter of time before somebody demanded to know where I stood... I'm kinda glad it's him asking me and not the Professor, she's actually kinda scary...' Her heart stretched painfully in her chest as she forced her thoughts back to the matter at hand. 'He knows what he's asking of me, doesn't he?' She winced painfully as her heart rebelled at the idea of killing the girl, but sobbed at the idea of abandoning her homeland. She glared at the ground in an attempt to find the answer there. 'These people... They're...'

"I need an answer before I can let you go." Lloyd said quietly, not intending to make his words cruel, but she still flinched all the same. Apologetic but needing an answer, he stopped his hand from reaching out to tap her on the shoulder. He grit his teeth angrily at his own weakness, glaring down at the ground before directing his stare to her. He had to know before he could make a single overture of true friendship, though he knew that it was too late for that now. She already was his teammate, and nothing she said would change that. 'It's just how it is...'

Sheena was still looking at the ground as her lips trembled as she spoke the words she had been trying not to say, "I... I can't kill someone like Colette. It's... It's just something I _can't_ do." Smiling ruefully, she glanced up at the twin swordsman, continuing softly, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt someone as _pure_ as Colette. It's something I'm just not capable of doing." The guilt was surging strong through her blood as she whispered her words, but her entire being rejected the thought of having to harm the innocent blond in any way. She couldn't imagine laying a hand on someone like the young girl. 'It's just not in me. It's so stupid, I'm an assassin and I can't kill my own target. I got to know her instead... I'm _really_ not cut out for this work... Dammit...'

"I see..."

"But I can't abandon my world, you understand that right? I have no idea what I'm doing right now. All I can tell you is that you have my word that I won't harm the Chosen." Sheena's voice dropped low, but she knew he could hear her perfectly. Her hands balled into tight fists as her warring emotions burned like bile in her mouth. The guilt was impossibly angry, and it took all she had to fight it off. With a shake of her head, she added softly, "I understand if you don't believe me though... If you asked me to leave, I'd go without a word of complaint."

"Sheena, I don't want you to leave us." Lloyd said firmly, causing the ninja to look up at him in complete surprise. His belief was now cemented, and there was no way it could be broken. She was truly in pain over her conflicting emotions, and that was all the proof he needed. 'She was willing to die for innocent people simply because she felt like she owed them. She's a good person.' He smiled gently, continuing as casually as could be, "You're our friend Sheena. I know I can trust you because of what I've seen you do. Being an assassin... It's not the right job for you. Your eyes are far too gentle. You're no killer, I think everyone sees that despite the mask you put on."

"Heh... You see right through me, that's kinda disturbing." Sheena laughed weakly, rubbing her forehead as she tried to disguise her embarrassment. 'Friend...' Her cheeks were flaming ruby at his kind tone, and she was glad for the darkness to hide it. She'd never been asked to be someone's friend before. 'He really does see things simply... He's no fool, no matter what anyone else says. He's... kind.' Moving her hand to the back of her neck, she sighed wearily. 'He's right though, I'm no killer...' "I think... I think I came here with an entirely wrong mindset."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. He listened attentively, not wanting to miss a single word of what she would say. His trust was already cemented in her, regardless of what the others would say when he raised this to them later.

"I was a fool. I was expecting to find a Chosen like the one from our side, not someone like Colette." Sheena explained tiredly, sitting down in the lush grass as the weight of her exhaustion seemed to hit her shoulders at that moment. Her lips formed a grimace of disgust at the thought of the redheaded lecher that was her world's Chosen, but the frown soon softened into a little smile as she compared him to Colette. It was like comparing the darkest of the night to the bright sun of noon, nearly impossibly different. Lloyd sat down too, watching as though she was explaining the secret of turning dirt into Gald. "I was caught off guard by how innocent she was, how hopelessly devoted she was to the ritual... Worse, I got to know her, I understand how much she loves these people, how far she's willing to go to save this world. That was something I didn't expect to see in her."

"She is like that." Lloyd agreed wearily, trying to ignore the sharp stabs of pain the thought invoked in him. She was suffering unbelievably, and no matter how many times he stretched out his hand, she would always turn away from him. As frustrated as he was, it only furthered his resolve to find some way to free her. "It's stupid, but it's who she is."

"I know... I'm going to do all I can to help you get her loose of those shackles." Sheena said firmly, watching as Lloyd's lips twitched into a smile. 'He knew that I'd agree to help him, didn't he...? He's definitely not as stupid as he lets on sometimes...' She tried not to return his infectious smile, a tiny glint of warmth stirring deep in her stomach. 'I... I could get used to having... friends...' "Don't grin at me like that, you're making me feel like I'm about to make a really big mistake putting my faith in you."

"You've already put your faith in me, you came without your weapons." Lloyd pointed out playfully, enjoying the flash of surprise that crossed the ninja's vulnerable face. Her lips quirked for a very short moment, and he was astonished to see her first true smile in his direction. His stomach flipped uneasily as he found himself blushing at her grin, he could see, even in the shadows, her kind topaz eyes were glittering. "I don't think you'd do that normally."

"You're right, I wouldn't do it normally... But I figured that if you were willing to trust me, I should return the favour." Sheena shrugged idly, trying to hide her smile. 'He makes it so easy... Like it's okay to do what I'm doing... Why do I want to trust him with everything?'

"So, will we be staying allies from now on?" Lloyd asked cheerfully, getting to his feet and extending his hand to help her up too. His adust eyes were wide and trusting, reminding her of a child instead of a young man.

Sheena stared at his hand for a long moment, debating. She knew already he was an honest person, to a fault. Any overtures he would make would always be truthful. Smiling very slightly, she let his hand closed around hers and he pulled her to her feet, still grinning at her acceptance. "Yeah, I guess we are allies."

"Good." Lloyd released her hand, a little confused by why the warmth of her skin against his made his stomach twist pleasantly. He turned his back on her, ready to walk back to the camp. He was stunned then when he heard a whoosh of air and something sharp poked against his neck, not nearly hard enough to draw blood. He froze where he stood, his hands grasping air. His swords still were laying useless on the ground.

Sheena laughed girlishly, a first for her since she had been in his company. She hadn't been able to resist the chance, especially when he had looked at her with such warm eyes. To be frank, it was one of the only ways she knew how to embrace the boy without feeling completely foolish while doing so. The kunai was warm in her hand as she slid it back into her sleeve, away from the thin skin that barely protected the vein that she could've easily slashed to kill him. She used her free arm to hold his left behind his back, her body pressed against his as she spoke playfully into his ear, "Lesson number one when working with a ninja trained in the Igaguri style, never turn your back on them." She released him just as instantly as she had caught him, jumping back away from him, her slim body still shivering with giggles. 'He made it so easy!'

"Yeesh you scared me!" Lloyd gasped, his hand flying to his throat as he whirled around to see the ninja grinning playfully at him, her eyes dancing in the pale light of the moon. Her smile was oddly infectious, and he found himself grinning along with her. He didn't know why it was, but he knew that he'd never been in true danger. "So that's how it is, huh?"

"I couldn't resist, you left it so open..." Sheena explained half-heartedly, her serious tone marred by her laughter as she hid the weapon she had been carrying. 'I can't tell him I just wanted to hug him... That'd be so stupid.' With an idle shrug, she revealed the slit in her sleeve where she had hidden the kunai, explaining further, "We never go anywhere without a weapon, it's just too dangerous. I knew I wouldn't have to use it with you, but I have to be on my guard at all times. It's part of my training. You really just had to be taught..." It wasn't so easy to lie to him, but the blush was becoming too hard to ignore, so she chose the route more travelled then to move into unexplored territory. She liked him, it was too dangerous to let him know that, it was too dangerous to even feel what she felt.

"Alright, alright, I get it, thanks for the lesson." Lloyd grumbled, though the annoyance was lost in his good humour. She had been well-meaning, and he had gotten the sense from the way she pushed her body against his that it had simply been play. 'Granted, a weird play but... She's laughing. For the first time since she joined us, she's actually laughing.' "Don't tell anyone that you got the drop on me, especially Kratos. He'd never let me live it down!"

"Well he shouldn't, considering I could've killed you." Sheena teased, laughter lighting up her face. She felt lighter somehow, as though the burden she had always carried on her shoulders was being eased. He made it easy to let her lips curve into a smile when she knew she should be indifferent, something about him was too magnetic to ignore. 'It's so dangerous to think like this...' "You'll need to train your mind better."

"Ouch." Lloyd moaned in faux-pain, rubbing at his chest as though she had stabbed him. Her eyes were no longer cheery but guarded, and as much as he knew he shouldn't feel it, it worried him. 'All I want is for all of us to get along, like we should. She's our teammate, but beyond that, she's our friend, isn't she...?' "Sheena...?" Something ached in his chest as she impulsively drew away from him, their moment of camaraderie broken as quickly as it had been made. 'She's never had real friends... Has she? She holds herself so far away from the rest of us, even though we've pretty much all accepted her as part of our group...' "Sheena, we're friends, aren't we?"

"F-F-Friends?" Sheena couldn't help herself, her lips stumbled over the unfamiliar word and she stared at the twin swordsman in complete astonishment. His tone was so casual, as though he was asking her if the sky was blue. 'He... He...' She was stunned into silence, her mind suddenly grasping at blank air where her thoughts had been just a moment ago. 'How can he say something so... easily? Where did this come from anyway? Didn't he want to talk to me about Colette...?' Her mind stumbled over itself in her confusion, and she found herself frozen to where she stood. 'What...?'

"Yeah, friends." Lloyd repeated slowly, sensing that beyond the casual air of his words that she was taking them incredibly seriously. He had seen how close she was to Corrine, but he saw how she handled the relationship, as if it was the most fragile of glass. 'She's... lonely. She doesn't have many friends... No one should live like that.' He continued calmly, leaving his invitation open for her acceptance due to her almost scared expression, "Is that alright with you? To be friends with me?"

"You want to be friends... with me?" Sheena asked just as slowly as he had, blinking as she looked at his extended hand. It was there, just waiting to be taken, and his face bore no ill will. He truly was a child, blessed with his naivete. A hard stone had lodged itself in her throat, and she had to fight to speak past it. There was no lie in his eyes, he was being what he was, a warm, open individual who, as crazily as it sounded, had already won her trust. The old fear stirred like a demon in her heart, and she found herself shrinking away from his warm invitation despite the aching want to trust him. "I... I don't know if that's such a good idea, me being what I am and all..."

"What you are doesn't change who you are, I've always believed that." Lloyd replied with a shake of his head, his hand flipping in a vague gesture. He still held it there for her, knowing she wanted to take it. Her topaz eyes were full of wanting, and she looked as though she was going to run away from his offer. Something was holding her there, and not really knowing why, he wanted her to stay more than anything else at that moment. 'I want to know what's holding her back, what makes her go forward. She's really someone I'd love to get to know. I want her to trust me.' "You are a kind person who loves the world, and you want everyone to be happy. That alone tells me that I can trust anything you say or do. I don't want to be simple allies, I want to be your friend."

His words were unbearably sweet to her ears, and despite all of her distrust, anxiety, and terror, she took his hand and closed her fingers around it. His face lit up in that boyish grin she was already growing affectionate of, and with a soft sigh, she shook his hand. Her words sounded raspy to her ears, she still couldn't believe he was willing to take her in without knowing a single thing about her. "Okay... Friends."

_Maybe... Just maybe... It doesn't matter to him._

**AN**

**May 04: EDITED XD**

**(shrugs) Because I wanted to. I honestly can't believe that after saying, "I might have to kill you after all", anyone could really truly trust Sheena. But Lloyd has a peculiar ability to sense people's true natures, and I bet he knew Sheena's right from the get go regardless of her mission. She does have gentle eyes. (hehe) Though I wanted to mention something about the fake attack/glomp, if Sheena wanted to hug him, I really doubt she'd do it. She's shy when it comes to being with someone else, at least I see it... I decided to keep that particular part because first it made me giggle, and I didn't think the story flowed as well without it. Meh, lol. Thanks again to my wonderful beta, I'd be screwed without your help!**

**Friendship is a very big word that I feel people tend to overlook these days, myself included on many occasions. It's a bond between people that really can't be explained in words, so I had a hard time phrasing a lot of what I wanted to be said, lol... So on that note, I'm gonna share two very nice quotes with you, lol.**

**Henry David Thoreau: "The language of friendship is not words, but meanings."**

**Rod McKuen: "Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."**

**Sky**


End file.
